Alumni Board

Jean Bigelow

Alumni Board ChairE-mail: jean.bigelow@intermountainmail.org

Jean graduated from the BYU Associate Degree program in 1980 having attended the Salt Lake City BYU extension. She completed her Bachelors degree in Provo 1982 as she enjoyed the full college experience with her roommates.

After graduation in 1982, Jean began working in the Intensive Care Units of the Idaho Falls Idaho Consolidated Hospitals. During that time her life long love of nursing care for the critically ill was born. Jean moved to Salt Lake in 1983 and went to work on the night shift in the ICU at Pioneer Valley Hospital in West Valley City. There Jean learned all about autonomy, compassion and the courage of patients and their families. She also got her Masters Degree from University of Phoenix during those days. After stints as Clinical Coordinator, Director and Interim Chief Clinical Officer at Pioneer Valley, Jean transferred to Salt Lake Regional Medical Center and was hired as the Director of Quality and Risk Management.

In 2002 Jean got the opportunity to go to work for Intermountain Health Care (IHC) as the Patient Safety Coordinator in the Urban Central Region Hospitals. Jean is also currently (2005) the Magnet Project Director as those facilities pursue Magnet recognition.

Verna Brimhall Nelson

Verna Brimhall Nelson graduated with the Class of 1958 after serving as vice-president and president of the BYU SNA in its beginning years. She worked at LDS Hospital on the IV Team and at Salt Lake City Health Department before moving to California and working for the Santa Barbara County Health Department.

Due to the demanding care needs of a severely handicapped child and raising six other children, she did not return to the nursing profession until 1988, after reviewing Med-Surg & Psych/Community Health (2 semesters) at the BYU Salt Lake Center. Since that time, while being a busy grandma (she has 24 grandchildren) and transplanting from Salt Lake to Provo, she has worked for the Intermountain Healthcare Blood Bank for nine years, at BYU College of Nursing fundamentals lab, Kids on the Move (early childhood intervention), and as a Hospice RN for nine years. Verna loves doing Hospice because it fits with the kind of nursing she learned long ago (no technology, just hands on, comfort care).

She assisted her husband with their family-owned business and served with him as a missionary in Kirtland, Ohio. In her spare time she loves to swim (competes in Huntsman Senior Games), play the piano at the MTC, travel (has visited grandchildren in Hawaii, Holland, and Germany), and keep in touch with her BYU nursing friends.

Patricia K. Ravert, Dean

Before coming to BYU in 1999, Patty Ravert worked as a registered nurse in various roles with Intermountain Healthcare, beginning in 1974. She received her associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing at BYU after which she received her doctorate from the University of Utah.

Dr. Ravert is a Certified Nurse Educator, Fellow in the Academy of Nursing Education with the National League for Nursing, and a Fellow in American Academy of Nursing. She is a pioneer in simulation learning in nursing education, particularly high fidelity simulation. Her scholarship trajectory includes examining simulation design, integration/implementation, and evaluation of student outcomes and faculty needs.